The Implementation of ERP Packages as a Mediation Process: The Case of Five Brazilian Projects

Abstract

This research has investigated the implementation of ERP as mediation process that is, as an interactive process developed between the organization’s members and external consultants. The adoption of a mediation lens helps identify how global and local skills have been combined in ERP projects, and how these different arrangements have affected the project results. Underlying our analysis were two main questions: (1) How do patterns of mediation emerge, and what kinds of elements influence their emergence? and (2) What kind of association can be established between patterns of mediation and project results? Our conclusions point towards certain drivers. The local firm’s position regarding the head office and the meaning attached to each project have directly influenced the way external consultants are perceived by the local firm’s members, and these perceptions influence team members’ and consultants’ roles. Team members’ and consultants’ roles, in turn, contribute to reinforcement or transformation of established mediation patterns.